Conversation with the President

President Emeritus Carl V. Patton: Initiatives

Main Street Master Plan

Dr. Patton launched a university-wide planning effort that produced the Main Street Master Plan, an innovative strategy introduced in 1997 to increase the university’s footprint in the downtown community and shape a decade of growth for the university. Several years before the 10-year scope of the plan was to end, all of the projects envisioned in the plan were either completed or in process. An updated plan is now in place to continue the themes of the original plan, guiding the university’s future growth through 2015. Key components include:

Establishing a campus identity based on a central campus plaza and several campus corridors

Investing in key research areas to advance knowledge and discovery

Increasing the university’s involvement with the downtown community

Securing private funding sources to supplement state allocations for building projects